Byron Nelson 2009

We worked the Byron Nelson Golf Tournament again this year. This year Delton celebrated his 35th year as a volunteer. His goal is to be the "oldest" volunteer at the Byon. Joni celebrated her 23rd year. Ron, Delton's brother, worked his 4th year. Time flies!

During our stay at the Vineyards RV Park in Grapevine, we met another RVer parked across from us named Troy Matteson and his wife. Troy is a professional golfer and was entered into the Byron. We really enjoyed getting to know Troy and his wife. See pictures of Troy with us and another picture of Troy at the Byron. He's wearing a pale green shirt. Troy made the cut, but struggled on Saturday and Sunday. Also see our picture of VJ Singh, another golf pro.

Have you ever heard of a Caddie Race? It's a race to see which caddie steps on the green first. The Caddie Race was held only on our hole - HOLE 17! What a fun addition to the tournament, at least Joni thought so. Delton wasn't so sure. He thought it would bother the golfers and take their focus off the game. The crowd loved it!

Pictured are Delton, Ron and Joni working in their tower on hole 17. We are all on the Laser Committee working for ShotLink. We measure the distance the golfers hit the ball. That's how the media knows how far the ball is hit and how close it is to the hole.

Callaway Gardens

Callaway Gardens, located about 1 hour south of Atlanta, is a beautiful park full of many flowers, gardens, hiking trails, ponds, nature trails, beach, chapel, golf coarse, tennis center, foliage and more. It's a non profit organization involved with conservation, and research on plants and wildlife. Open to the public, it provides education for understanding the "living world".

Doesn't Delton look colorful among the flowers!!!!!!!

We took our bikes and rode around the 8 mile trail circling the park. Passing many flowers and plants, we made our way through the nature trail, stopping along the way to admire many of the gardens of flowers and vegetables.

The Butterfly Garden was an indoor garden full of tropical butterflies and greenery. It was hard to get pictures of the butterflies in flight. They were flying all around us. Pictured are some of the butterflies on fern plants.

We attended an outdoor show on Birds of Prey and learned a lot about owls and falcon. Sometimes we had to be careful and duck as the birds flew over our heads to their trainer. We were disappointed that the eagles were on their day off! The birds were not on any kind of leash, so it was surprising that they did not fly away into freedom. Guess they liked the FOOD service!

The Parrot Encounter show was a one on one presentation between the parrot and it's fans. Pretty Bird!

While in the area, we were able to have diner with Delton's brother, Steve, who is a career Air Force Lieutenant Colonel based in Alabama.

Hiking Stone Mountain, GA

Our first stop on the way back to Texas was Stone Mountain in Atlanta, GA. We only stopped for 1 night, took and hike and left the next day.

The mountain is a big rock that sticks out of the landscape high above the city of Atlanta. It's a 1.3 mile hike and takes about 30 minutes to get to the top. What a spectacular view!

Some sections were very steep and a hand railing was built for safety, but it was a short section near the top.

It was about 5:30 in the afternoon and the sun was going down. Also, it had been raining earlier in the day, so it was still partly cloudy and parts of the rock were wet. See Atlanta in the background as the sun is going down.

That was it! We hiked and left!

Myrtle Beach 2009

We liked Myrtle Beach so much that we decided we would go there again. We visited Ocean Lakes in Myrtle Beach 3 years ago. It's one of the biggest parks in the country and has won many awards (see awards photo). Joni is shown sitting on the beach with her umbrella.

There are many organized events activities going on, especially for kids. We were there to enjoy the beach. Joni just can't get enough of the beach.


Legends in Concert was performing at Myrtle Beach. They were great. If you didn't know better, you'd think you were looking at the authentic celebrity. We saw Elvis, The Blues Brothers, Louis Armstrong, Roy Orbison and Reba.

The Dolly Parton Dixie Stampede was very entertaining. It's a diner show. AND you have to eat without utensils. The menu consisted of soup, chicken, corn on the cob, baked potato and pastry for desert. A hand wipe was "served" after diner. We had a great time.

Delton did some repair work while we were there. The bubble over our shower (see Delton sitting on the roof with his feet dangling) developed a leak. Delton took the bubble off and resealed it. On our way to Myrtle Beach, the backup camera on our motorhome went out. Delton installed a new monitor, 2 side cameras, a new back camera AND redid all the wiring. What a guy!

And yes, the fires were burning while we were there. We were never in danger as the fires were in North Myrtle Beach. The park we stayed in is in the southern part of Myrtle Beach. We could smell the fire and see the smoke through.

After 2 1/2 weeks, we headed out and started our way back to Texas. Our plan is to take our time and make some stops along the way.